Giants Take Games 1, 2, 3 of World Series
At the time of this writing, the San Francisco Giants have a 3-0 lead on the Detroit Tigers, and Game 4 is all tied up at 3-3 in the 8th inning. Here is a look back at some of the best quotes, facts, statistics and gambling lines from the first three games of the series.
Game 1: San Francisco Underdogs at +160, Win Game 8-3
San Francisco jumped out to an early and surprising power-fueled lead in this series when Pablo Sandoval blasted three home runs in Game 1 off of arguably the best pitcher on earth, Justin Verlander, to take the game 8-3. The Giants finished last in the majors in home runs this season, so the sudden surge of power was welcome, though unexpected, particularly off of Verlander.
“I’m one that’s been around long enough to know that a lot of things happen in this game. This was a big-hyped game with Justin, probably a lot of pressure on him,” Leyland said. “But I don’t think it had anything to do with the pressure. His fastball command was not good. He got out of sync. He got on fast forward. He just did not pitch well tonight. It’s that simple.”
Game 2: San Francisco Favored at -160, Win Game 2-0
The Tigers, one of the most dominant offenses in baseball this season, were shut out in Game 2 of the World series, and manager Jim Leyland wasn’t making any excuses.
“Well, what are you going to do about it?” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “We got two hits tonight. I’m certainly not going to sit up here and rip my offense because last night I thought we had some pretty good swings. Cabrera hit a bullet tonight.”
Game 3: San Francisco Underdogs at -145, Win Game 2-0
Before the World Series commenced, the Tigers had only been shut out twice all year. Now they have been shut out twice in the worst spot possible. Despite the prolific offense of Detroit, featuring Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and hard-hitting offseason free agent acquisition Prince Fielder, the Giants blanked the Tigers with an old-fashioned mix of pitching and sensational defense.
Everybody wants to see the homer,” the Giants’ Jeremy Affeldt said on Saturday night, after his team’s second World Series shutout in a row, a 2-0 Game 3 blanking of the Tigers. “Homers — those are fun to watch. And offense is fun to have. When you’re putting up lots of runs, it’s great. … But I think it’s the defense and the pitching that’s going to get you to the playoffs and win in the playoffs. We say it all the time.”
Game 4: San Francisco Underdogs at +115
It’s interesting that a team riding so much momentum would continuously be an underdog, even if they are playing on the road. Heading into Game 4, here were some interesting gambling trends with these two teams, courtesy of OddsShark.com:
San Francisco Giants Trends:
- When playing on Sunday are 7-3
- Before playing Detroit are 6-4
- After playing Detroit are 5-5
- After a win are 7-3
- Detroit Tigers Trends:
- When playing on Sunday are 3-7
- Before playing San Francisco are 5-5
- After playing San Francisco are 5-5
- After a loss are 6-4
A few Giants at Tigers trends to consider:
- San Francisco is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
- San Francisco is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Detroit
- San Francisco is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit
- Detroit is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
- Detroit is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit’s last 6 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit’s last 6 games when playing at home against San Francisco
